Exploring life and the Christian faith.

What the Heck!

As I have already discussed here, I recently attended the Gay Christian Network conference a little over a week ago. My experiences there were
mostly positive, but there is one negative issue that I have not been able to dismiss. I met and had wonderful conversations with many precious people who had traveled there from all over the world. During many of these talks, I heard story after story of how parents, cousins, sisters, brothers, children, and friends ended the relationships after their loved ones came out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. And guess what? These family and friends claimed their Christian faith as the reason for the complete break in relationship. I wish I could fully explain the hurt and grief that came over the many faces to whom I spoke.

And this bothers me! I cannot understand why anyone would end a relationship with someone he/she loves over sexual orientation, especially if he/she claims to be under the lordship of Christ. Am I missing something here?

I have been blessed to have family and friends who haven’t pushed me out of their lives after I became honest about my sexuality. In fact, my relationships with my sisters, parents, and grandmother have been enriched since my confession. The wall that I put up so that no one would really know me hindered my relationships. Now that it is gone, there is a closeness with them that I had never had in my life.

I wonder how my life would be now if they had rejected and kicked me out of their lives.

So, if you have someone close to you that confesses to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, please do not end the relationship! Parent, please DO NOT kick your child out of your house! And truly love them. Don’t make them your projects. Don’t love them in order to change them, love them because you have been first loved by Christ.

And if you choose to end the relationship, then ‘for Pete’s sake’ do not invoke Jesus Christ as the reason for doing so!

Christy,
Yes, apparently you are missing something – but you have missed saved you from a lot of pain.

LGBT folks are disowned both by their families and their churches MOSTLY on assumed “biblical” grounds. I started my blog exactly because of that – to offer them comfort and restore their faith that God would not reject them.

In these days homophony is so prevalent in the established Christian churches that the very fact that one doesn’t have a family makes him or her an outcast in church communities.

I have been excluded from Catholic churches just because I entered there with a friend, rather than with a spouse and kids. The church members even refused to greet us when we arrived, even though they had NO IDEA who we were. I had an anxiety attack because of such mistreatment, which then the priest “read” on my face as someone who misses the joy of being in God’s house and I was just there out fear ad obligation.

This is why I have left behind Catholicism and all institutional religions. I am a Christian in my own right and no one is in the position to dictate to me how to read the Bible. I do believe that a loving God doesn’t condemn anyone who loves Him and love his/her fellow humans.

Thanks for reading this Christy.

I very much enjoy your blog.
You are indeed an exceptional person and a gifted writer.
Robin